About us

Our story

Marrakech Design is a Swedish company specialized in encaustic cement tiles. The tiles are made by hand according to a production process developed in southern France towards the end of the 19th century. Nowadays, the world’s major production centers for cement tiles are Morocco and Vietnam.

We founded Marrakech Design in 2006 after a number of trips to Morocco where we discovered and became intrigued by the beauty and versatility of these tiles. Initially we focused on classic Moroccan/Arabic/French patterns, adapting the colours to fit Scandinavian and Northern European tastes.

However, we soon realized the potential in combining the traditional material and production process with a contemporary approach to design and so in 2010 we launched our first designer line ”Raval” by the renowned Swedish designer Mats Theselius. Then in 2012 we teamed up with the Stockholm based architects Claesson Koivito Rune resulting in a collection of three patterns Casa, Dandelion and Stone. ”Dandelion” has since become what must be considered a modern design icon.
These initial collections have been followed by several more: the ”Kelim”- line (Goose-eye, Herringbone, Hook and Woody) by Mats Theselius, ”Bow, Kimono, Lily, Moonrise and Orchard” a second collection by Claesson Koivisto Rune, ”New Raval” by Mats Theselius and most recently “Stitches and Embroidery” by Claesson Koivisto Rune.

We’re proud that the collections have won several design prizes: Residence Magazine and Elle Deco Sweden Design Awards for ”Raval” in 2011, the Elle Deco Sweden Design Award for ”Casa Dandelion Stone” in 2012 and the Elle Deco International Design Award in Milan for ”Dandelion” in 2013.

Our design collaborations

Claesson Koivisto Rune

Claesson Koivisto Rune is a Swedish architectural partnership, founded in Stockholm in 1995, by Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto and Ola Rune. It started as an architectural firm, but has since become an internationally acclaimed, multi-disciplinary office with an equal emphasis on both architecture and design.

As the first Swedish office to have exhibited in the international section at the Venice Architecture Biennale, in 2004, they are also responsible for award-winning projects such as the Tind Prefab house collection for Fiskarhedenvillan, Widlund House on Öland, Örsta Gallery building in Kumla, Sfera Building culture house in Kyoto and Nobis Hotel in Stockholm.

Claesson Koivisto Rune has received an array of international awards and recognitions, amongst them nine American Good Design Awards 2009 – 16, the Designpreis Deutschland (Gold and Silver) 2011 by the Federal Republic of Germany, Designer of the Year 2011 and Furniture of the Year 2012 by Elle Deco Sweden, both Designer of the Year and Best Seating 2014 by Elle Decor Italia, and the Red Dot Design Award – Best of the Best 2014, making them the first office to hold the prestigious Red Dot in five different product categories, architecture included. In 2015 they also received the prestigious Bruno Mathsson award, the highest honour in furniture design in Sweden and the Scandinavian region.

Mats Theselius

Mats Theselius, born 1956 in Stockholm. Today he shares his time between Malmö and his country house in Löderup in the southern province of Skåne. Education: Konstfack (College of Arts, Crafts and Design) Stockholm 1979-1984. Professor at HDK School of Design & Crafts, Gotenburg 1995-1996 Mats Theselius works in the field between art and design. He takes on different design commissions as well as works with his own production, exhibitions, set designs, installations, books, film and music. He also produces his own unique custom made armchairs.

Over the years Mats has been awarded a number of prestigious design prizes amongst them Torsten & Wanja Söderberg’s Design Prize and the Bruno Mattsson Prize. He is represented in many major design collections, the most important being Nationalmuseum (Stockholm), Art & Crafts Museum (New York), Museum für angewante Kunst (Cologne) and the Russian State Art Collection (Moscow).

Monica Förster

Monica Förster Design Studio is an international design office established in 1999 by Founder and Creative Director Monica Förster. Her design has won numerous awards and has been exhibited all over the world in museums and institutions.. Born in 1966, Monica Förster grew up close to the Arctic Circle in the very north of Sweden. She trained at Beckmans School of Design and the University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm.